ASSIGNMENT

ASSIGNMENT

1. Sunspots Represent Regions of Strong Magnetic Acticity and Lower Temperature

   • Sun spots are cool regions with the core (umbra) being 4000 kelvin and its outer (penumbra) 5,500.
   • Created where magnetic field lines are distorted and powerful enough to escape suns gravitational pull.

2. Particulate Nature of the Solar Wind

   • Charged particles which escape suns gravitational force due to its high temperature.
   • 95% protons and electrons, 4% helium nuclie (alpha Particles), 1% C, N, O, FE ions)
   • 400km to 700km/sec, carrying a magnetic field.

3. Effects of Sunspot Activity on the Earths Power Grid and Satellite Communications

   • Change in force of solar wind impact earth's magnetic field, creating geomagnetic storms affecting radio communications
   • 1989- Quebec Canada- 6 million people- 9 hr blackout.
     • Geomagnetic storm: solar eruptions changing earths MF, inducing ground currents, flowed through ground transformer causing voltage fluctuations which led to protective devices shutting off the transmission equipment
   • Satellites
     • Solar Wind affects the electronics in satellites, overwhelming sensors and build up strong electrical charges disrupting and causing them to fail.
     • Satellite Drag: Solar wind heats up the earth causing it to expand, moving the satellites out of orbit, causing the satellites to use extra fuel to maintain their orbit reducing their lifetime.
       • Ionospheric storms reduce the range of available hf frequencies.
     • Heating of Ionosphere increase its density changing the oath of radio signals, creating positioning errors in gps's and create geomagnetic induced currents in the power grid.
       • Satellites in geosynchronus orbit are susceptible to rdamage from high energy partices reducing quality, causing blackouts and radiation damage.
   • MF changes near a power grid will induce surges of current in the conductors up to hundreds of amperes in magnitude causing components such as transformers to fail.
   • SF's increase ionization of the ionosphere preventing hf signals from reaching the layer of the ionosphere that reflects them back to ground receptors due to being absorbed in the layers before the desired one.

4. Nature of Emissions reaching the Earth from the Sun

   • Sun constantly fill interplanetary space with charged particles reaching all the way to earth.
   • 500 million protons and 500 million electrons per cubic meter in the near earth region.
   • Visible light, infared, electromagnetic wave frequencies (radio, ultravilolet, gamma ray) and solar wind.
   • Solar wind pushes earths magnetosphere , small radius on sun facing side and bigger radius on opposite side.
   • CMEs- billions of tons of solar wind hit earth and high speed solar wind hits slow speed solar wind.

5. Technological Advances on Understanding Physics

   • Interplanetary space probes measure solar wind.
   • NASA Mariner showed charged particles continously eminating from the sun.
   • Magnetograph observatie Sunspot patterns.
   • Space weather events observed by the use of ground sensors and imagingsystems to view solar activty.

6. Cyclic Nature of Sunspot Activity and its Impact on Earth Through Solar Winds

   • 11 years solar cycle (min to max to min)
   • SOLAR MAX-
     • Increased solar activity: Solar Flares, CME's, High speed solar wind
       • CMES- 10^12 to 10 ^13kg of solar plasma up to 1000km/sec
       • Solar Flares- Huge release of stored energy in distorted magnetic field lines, ejects clouds of charged particles creating a CME.
   • Every 22 years poles switch